Published: 13 November 2018
Last updated: 4 March 2024
THE SHORTAGE OF WORKERS in Israel’s hi-tech industry is rapidly becoming a crisis. A further 15,000 trained personnel are needed than are currently available in the local economy, according to a recent survey.
It means that a quarter of tech companies run part of their research and development activities outside of Israel. Others have made applied for work visas in their thousands to bring software engineers in from India.
And yet the share of tech employees in the Israeli workforce is falling: from 10 per cent in 2013, it is eight per cent today.
For analysts, the solution has longer been clear: Israel’s Strictly Orthodox and Arab residents — which together make up a third of the population.
There has been a sharp increase in both Charedi women and Arab Israelis studying tech-related subjects at higher levels of education, but their employment in Israel’s more prestigious technological companies has been largely stymied.
FULL STORY Israel's tech firms launch hunt for Arab and Charedim employees (Jewish Chronicle)
Photo: Start Up Nation Central which was launched last month aims to increase Charedi and Arab employment (Flash 90)
